Counting only the direct costs, the U.S. spent some 700 billion dollars in FY 2018 on war and war preparations. Upon closer examination, these expenditures are found to represent mostly troop deployments and weapon systems that are obsolete and unnecessary in a military sense. While not needed for s... moreCounting only the direct costs, the U.S. spent some 700 billion dollars in FY 2018 on war and war preparations. Upon closer examination, these expenditures are found to represent mostly troop deployments and weapon systems that are obsolete and unnecessary in a military sense. While not needed for security, they continue because they maintain the power and profits of special interests in government and the private sector.

Demilitarization and the Green New Deal: Reinventing the State for the Public Good

by Brian D’Agostino, Ph.D. and Jon Rynn, Ph.D.1

presentation to

Philosophy, Politics & Economics Society, 2019 Annual Meeting,

Friday 29 March 2019, New Orleans, copyright 2019

bdagostino.com economicreconstruction.org

ABSTRACT

Counting only the direct costs, the U.S. spent some 700 billion dollars in FY 2018 on war and war preparations. Upon closer examination, these expenditures are found to represent mostly troop deployments and weapon systems that are obsolete and unnecessary in a military sense. While not needed for security, they continue because they maintain the power and profits of special interests in government and the private sector. In addition, U.S. policymakers have sought military supremacy to manage perceived threats from Islamist insurgencies, Russian and Chinese power, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In each of these arenas, however, the only solutions are political, not military, and a new kind of foreign policy is needed. This paper shows how a demilitarized foreign policy would address each of the abovementioned challenges. It then shows how people and capital being squandered on unnecessary and counterproductive military programs can instead be put to work on a Green New Deal that can provide productive livelihoods and sustainable prosperity.